Chronic Crease Marks on Your Cheek? A $3 DIY Solution

[Sheepish]

After a few weeks of starting CPAP, I started noticing crease marks on my cheeks from the headgear, and while at the beginning they disappeared after the morning shower, gradually they would last well into the start of the workday. You may not always wish to engage in a conversation with everybody about why you have to marks. Not all of us work hidden away in some cubicle all day, but rather have to work face to face with the public, for example teachers, sales reps, police officers, hairdressers, doctors, nurses, you name it.

At first I thought perhaps the headgear for the Pico was so voluminous it might be simple fix to try a smaller nasal pillow mask with more minimal headgear, but after a few days with the Philips Respironics Nuance Pro Gel nasal pillow mask, cheek creasing was still a problem.

Before learning about the great lady who runs Padacheeks, Supplier #31, I tried to find a solution on my own. I read about people who tried all kinds of homespun solutions such as cut up t-shirts, microfiber cloth, lotions and gels, etc.; one fellow was even ingenious enough to try his wife's (unused) panty liners and brave enough to post about it. I spent a day going from store to store to try to find some products or material I could turn into cheek protection. I came home with a bunch of stuff and started experimenting.

What I've found best among them all is the soft, wide (green) microfiber attachment on a $4 (US$3) Spray Squeegee I found a the local dollar store.

1. Remove it from the squeegee.
   
2. Cut it in half with some sharp scissors.
   
3. With the tip of the scissors, slice a slot open in the closed half the white stretchy attachment strap. (The other side is velcro.)
   
4. Attach the two halves to the two sides of your headgear.
   

 I did eventually discover Padacheek, and their mask liner works great for my Pico nasal mask. However, for the crease marks on my cheeks, Padacheeks or the flannel cheek pads included with the Philips Respironics Dreamwear nasal cushion mask were not adequate, since they only make the contact area with my cheeks softer, but do not distribute the the contact area across a wider surface, which my MacGyver method does. That has proven to be the key to success for someone like me whose marks are not caused by the tightness of the headgear, but rather by being pressed between my cheeks and my pillow when sleeping on my side and burying my cheeks in the pillow, as I do. I've successfully used this method for a Resmed Airfit P10 as well.





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For the Pico nasal mask, whose headgear has longer lower straps, you can either go with a full length (uncut) green squeegee microfiber pad, or if you'd like to immerse yourself in the luxury model in which you feel a bundled up for your trip to sleepyland, you can use this German-engineered Kärcher model.




[url=https://i.imgur.com/wbw0dgd.jpg]

[Walla Walla]

   

[Spy Car]

Needs to be added to the Wiki.

Brilliant!

Bill

[chill]

Comfy AND effective!

[HalfAsleep]

Fabulous! Some people are just so creative!

[Sheepish]

Thanks!  

Sorry about the typos and the HTML artifacts. I posted quickly before going out, and when I got back the edit window time had elapsed. (Dunno if that can be fixed.)

I realize this is not for everyone, and for many folks the Padacheeks will be perfectly fine. But perhaps this can help some people who are still struggling with chronic creasing.

[Sleep2Snore]

An idea worth trying, thanks.  

[sonicboom]

Well done! Very crafty and creative.

[Apnea Infant]

Gives new meaning to side burns???

[trish6hundred]

Hi Sheepish,
Thank you for sharing this neat solution, very good information for the wiki.